Union Budget pro-corporate, no promise on MSP: Farmer bodies

Protesting farmer bodies on Saturday termed as “pro-corporate” the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, saying the government did not make any provision for their long-standing demand of minimum support price of crops.

Farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal — who has been observing an indefinite fast since November 26 at Punjab’s Khanauri border point with Haryana over the demand for a law guaranteeing assured prices of crops — too called the Budget anti-farmer.

He said the farming community constituted over 50 per cent of the country’s population but only 3.8 per cent of the total allocation has been kept for the labour-intensive agriculture sector.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, the convener of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), said the Budget failed to meet expectations of farmers and farm labourers.

“This Budget was completely silent on the welfare of farmers and farm labourers, for which we are protesting for over a year now,” added Pandher.

Harmeet Singh Kadian, a leader of the Bharti Kisan Union (Kadian), slammed the Union Budget for failing to give a push to the food processing industry in Punjab.

“Neither a budgetary allocation has been made to promote food processing in the state nor any provision made to support research on crop diversification,” Kadian said.

Kadian said the credit limit under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) Scheme should be increased to Rs 10 lakh as the current cap of Rs 5 lakh is inadequate, given the rising costs of tractors and other agricultural implements.

Jagmohan Singh Patiala, general secretary of the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Dakonda), said the Centre seemed to favour farmers in National Democratic Alliance-ruled Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

“It appears that a strong push has been made for the growth of Bihar, possibly due to the upcoming Assembly elections there, while Punjab farmers are still waiting for more support,” said Jagmohan.